Overnight Frost
by Eureka2
Summary: Konoha is covered in snow, and Sasuke is reported dead. How do the remaining members of team seven deal with their greif? Oneshot NaruSaku


For the first time in living memory, Konoha was completely covered in snow. Thick blankets of white powder that had appeared overnight, covering the town, and frosting up every single window, chilling the houses. It was a lot worse for those who had left their windows open overnight, to let in some of the nice crisp autumn air. They had definitely gotten a lot more then they bargained for. Already this morning one idiot had almost burnt his house down, trying to get rid of the snow that had turned his living room into a winter wonderland by breathing fire on it. Sakura laughed at the thought. It was just so like their old sensei to do something like that. To put out the fire, he had used a water technique, so now his living room was soaked and the wood was probably rotting, he had told her, as if it was just something that happened.

Haruno Sakura paced down the snow-covered streets, making the first footprints of the day on the untouched snow that covered the ground. A gust of wind blew a flurry of snow at her, and she shivered, shielding her face against the wind with her hand.

The morning sun had just begun to creep into the town, as Sakura continued her journey towards the town main office. Her master had required that she get there at seven in the morning, every morning. Over the phone, she had insisted that today was no exception.

"_Easy for her to say, since she lives there, and not a half mile away,"_ Sakura thought bitterly. She wished that she had some actual winter clothes, but since this was the first time it had snowed here for almost a decade, her wardrobe was stocked full of light clothes, and windbreakers. Nothing designed for this kind of whether. She was thankful that nobody else was out this early in the morning, so no one would see her ridiculous outfit she had constructed, by cramming on three light jackets, and a couple of shirts. She glanced up, and groaned, as she saw that the office seemed no closer then it had been five minutes ago. She began to run, shielding her eyes against the wind, and the flurrying snow.

-- -- --

Naruto finally managed to drag his body out of the warmth of his bed, and up into a sitting position. He flinched a bit as his feet touched the cold floor, feeling around for his shoes. He got up, got dressed, and threw open the curtains. He blinked, and looked for the secondary curtains of pure white that had been installed. He realized that there were none, since that was definitely the main office he could make out through the whiteness. He blinked again.

Then his eyes widened to almost the size of dinner plates, as the full realization of what he was seeing hit him.

"Holy shit…" he muttered, gazing out across the snowy landscape. Suddenly, he felt wide awake, excitement welling up inside him. He had never seen snow before, and had been told that it _never _snowed here. He gazed out the window in amazement, taking everything in; the flurrying snow, the way it swirled in the wind, and the huge drifts where the wind had blown it around. He laughed, brushing his blond hair back with his hand.

He ate breakfast as fast as he could, before turning to his wardrobe. He frowned, not being able to decide what to put on. He knew snow was supposed to be cold, but that seemed to be a very general reference point. He shrugged, before picking out his fall outfit, which consisted of a thin black and orange jacket, and a pair of thick running pants, complete with an old scarf, and a woolly headband. He fitted his forehead protector on over top of the head warmer, before nodding, and setting off out the door.

A few minutes later, Naruto was finally aware of how cold snow actually was. His hair was soaked by snow, which coated his whole body, going right through his jacket as if he was in a swimming pool. He was wet, cold, and shivering, as he ran towards the main office. He smiled bleakly as he ran, amazed at how light and powdery the snow was. _"And to think that this stuff is actually water!" _ He blinked constantly, trying to dodge every snowflake he saw, with very little success. He smiled as he ran through Konoha, witch looked to him to be a completely different town.

However, he stopped dead in his tracks when he got to Ichiraku's, looking in horror at his usual eating place.

The old red stools he was so used to sitting on, were all covered in about a half meter of snow. The kitchen part was frosted up, and snow was blowing right into it. Back in the kitchen, he could see a couple of plates and pots, all frosted up. He stared at it for about a half minute, before turning away, and running off. He felt sincerely sorry for the old man that ran the place, just as he felt sorry for himself. There was no cafeteria in the main office, and every other place in town seemed to be closed today. He closed his eyes in despair, and kept on running, determined not to be late.

Naruto arrived at the main office of Konoha at about the exact same time as Sakura did. He saw her, and smiled in amusement, taking in her usually beautiful pink hair, now coated in a centimetre of snow. She was wearing multiple jackets as well, and the effect was that she looked very disproportionate, bulging out at places. Naruto fought the urge to laugh, knowing he would probably get hit very hard if he did.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan," he said cheerfully as they met in front of the main door. She just glared at him malevolently, probably wishing him death for being so cheerful. Naruto did not manage to take the hint, and continued by commenting: "Nice weather today, isn't it?"

"Shut up," she muttered quietly, shakily brushing snow off her head and jacket. She took off all of her coats, and left, leaving Naruto standing there, mystified by her response. After all, he had only been joking.

"Hey, wait for me," he called after her, as he ran to catch up. She did not answer, but ignored him all the way up the stairs. When they got to the waiting room, she went into the Hokage's office, leaving him standing there, not sure what to do. Naruto merely shook his head, and sat down, brushing through his blond hair with his hands, attempting to dry it. It was when he looked up again, that he noticed something very strange.

He was completely alone in the waiting room. There was nobody else to be seen, and he could not hear anything. He looked around, wondering what the hell was going on. Usually, all Ninja's that were not on missions gathered here to receive missions. He knew that team eight were away on some mission, but even thern, there should still be a bunch of people here.

He was not given long to ponder this mystery, because the next minute, Shizune had opened the door, gesturing him in. He smiled back, and got up, fighting the urge to laugh at Tonton, who had been wrapped in a specially made sweater. He passed Shizune, and walked in the door.

Sakura was standing over on Tsunade's left side, looking over some piece of paper. The Hokage herself was just sitting there, wrapped in a thick sweater, drinking some steaming tea.

"Hey, Tsunade, where is everyone?" Naruto demanded impatiently. Sakura did not even raise her eyes from the paper at Naruto's outburst. She had expected him to demand to know where everyone was. It was just a part of who he was. She smiled a bit to herself. _"I guess I can always rely on Naruto to be Naruto," _she thought, looking up at him. She laughed quietly.

Tsunade looked at Naruto gravely, signalling for him to sit down. She motioned Sakura to another chair.

"I gave everyone else the day off," she said slowly. In a flash, Naruto was on his feet again, glaring angrily at Tsunade. Shizune started foreword to try and resolve the situation, but gave up before she had even started. No reason it was going to work this time, of all times.

"Why?" Naruto shouted. He glared at Tsunade, expecting her to get right up into his face, as usual. But she did not move. She just kept on sitting calmly in her chair, almost looking sad.

"Sit down, Naruto," she said quietly, brushing a stray hair aside with her hand. She looked tired, and weary. Naruto stared at her, surprised. Slowly, he sat back down, looking from Tsunade, to Sakura. She gave him a mystified look back, just as confused as he was by now. In her heart, Sakura felt a stab of worry. _"What… What's going on…?_

Tsunade glanced back and forth at her two friends, Sakura looking anxious, Naruto looking confused. She sighed, and took a drink from her tea. _"Damn, I hate this…" _she thought, glancing up at Shizune. She nodded slowly.

"I'm afraid to have to say," she started slowly. "That my informant in the sound village has just reported that Uchiha Sasuke… He's dead," she finished sadly.

"No way," Naruto whispered quietly, mostly to himself, looking shocked.

Sakura's breath stopped cold in her throat. She clasped her hands over her mouth, not daring to breath, not believing it. Not wanting to believe it. Tsunade's sad face seemed a million miles away at that moment. She felt a comforting arm around her neck, but she did not care. She felt numb.

Naruto just stared at Tsunade blankly, as if he had not quite heard what she had said. He heard Sakura let out a gasp beside him, and he automatically put an arm around her, still not really aware of what was happening. _"No…" _

From what seemed like a long way away, he heard Tsunade talking again. The sound of her voice brought him back down to earth with a painful thud.

"According to Jiraya-sama's reports, the Akatsuki are down a member," Tsunade said slowly. Beside him, Sakura broke down completely.

She crumpled foreword, and sobbed into her lap, an endless stream of tears coming from her eyes. She barely noticed Naruto's arm around her, she felt so numb. She had to get out of here. She just couldn't…

Sakura suddenly stood up, and ran over to the office door, ripping it open.

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted after her, trying to grab her, but she was already gone, running down the stairs, not really watching where she was going, tears flowing freely down her face. Naruto jumped up from his chair, and stood there for a second, not knowing what to do. Then, he shot a glance back at Tsunade, before walking slowly out of the office, tears in his eyes. Tsunade let him go, not wanting to stop him. She glanced up at Shizune, who put her hand on her shoulder. The office door slammed shut, the sound reverberating around the dull room.

Naruto walked down the stairs slowly, tears in his eyes. When he got to the entrance, he saw both of Sakura's jackets still hanging up. A fresh pair of footsteps headed out down the street. Naruto considered following her, but knew he would probably never catch up. If Sakura wanted to be left alone, she would find a way.

As Naruto walked down the streets, retracing his path back to his house, he did not seem to notice the cold snow coating his hair, melting on his face. He did not care. It was just so insignificant. As he passed an old brick house, he suddenly spun around, and punched the wall as hard as he could, making a huge crack in the bricks. A few droplets of blood dripped from his knuckles. Tears fell down his face, as he stood there, his fist still pressed against the wall.

"Damn it…. Damn, damn, damn, damn, God damn it!" he muttered desperately, punching the wall again.

"_Why… Sasuke? Did you ever think what would happen after you got your revenge? Overall, what difference has it made? It's done, and nothing has changed…"_

It all seemed so insignificant. Sasuke had denied himself a normal life, favouring revenge.

"Great good that did," Naruto muttered softly, his voice shaking. "Now you're both dead!"

He punched the wall a last time, bloodying his knuckles. A few seconds later, they were healed. Naruto ran off, not stopping until he was inside his own house. He shook off all the water he could, and then sat down at his own table, and cried bitterly over his first, best, and lost friend.

The hours dragged on, and all Naruto had done, was wander around his own apartment, like a ghost of himself. By the late evening, he could not bear it anymore. He had to get out of here! He grabbed a coat, and left, not bothering to lock the door behind him.

Outside, the snow had finally stopped, and the sun was setting. Naruto shielded his eyes against the setting red sun, as he walked the streets of Konoha, not really caring where he walked. All around him, the streets were full of people still struggling to clear their driveway, or clearing up snow from the streets. All of them doing regular, things, all of them happy.

At that moment, Naruto envied them, and hated them at the same time. Quite a lot of people avoided him as he walked, but he was used to that already. Used to the whispers he sometimes got. A long time ago he had concluded that most of the village people were complete idiots. Now, he just hated them, and felt like hitting every single person who crossed the street when he came walking. His eyes were red by now, sore from being rubbed.

Suddenly, he realized that he was right outside Sakura's house. In fact, he had walked right past it, without noticing. He stared at it for a while, before deciding to ring the doorbell, wanting to check how she was doing. He blamed himself for not doing it sooner. _"I'm not the only one affected by this. I've no right to be selfish," _he thought bitterly. He rang the doorbell.

Sakura's mother answered. She tensed slightly when she saw Naruto, looking slightly uncomfterable. Naruto looked away a bit, trying to conceal his red eyes.

"Is Sakura home," he asked, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"No… She hasn't been home all day. You'll probably find her with Tsunade…" she answered, looking at Naruto quizzically, knowing that he should know that.

"Why… Isn't she with the Hokage?"

"Yeah, I think so, ill go check," Naruto said quickly. He waved goodbye, and left, walking rather quickly, leaving Sakura's mother looking pretty confused.

Naruto now felt extremely worried about his team mate, and good friend. If she had not been home, then she probably had been out all day. Naruto's breath caught in his throat, and new tears threatened his eyes.

"_Please… Don't do anything stupid, Sakura,"_ he thought desperately.

He stopped suddenly, looking around at where he was. He looked up, and realized that this was the bridge they had always gathered under. He bit his lip, gazing up at the place Kakashi always used to appear, usually an hour late. This was the end of team seven, for good. That realization made fresh tears spring to his eyes. He sat down, and leaned against the bridge, holding his knees.

Naruto did not know how long he sat there, but it must have been a while. People walked right past him, not caring about him at all. When Naruto finally looked up again, the sun was almost completely gone, the clouds being the only part of the sky that was illuminated.

A thought suddenly occurred to Naruto. _"Of course,"_ he thought, looking around him. He wiped his eyes one last time, before running off as fast as he could through the fresh snow.

-- -- --

Naruto ran into the open field of snow, and looked around desperately. Then, he saw her, just over by the three wooden poles sticking out of the snow. She was sitting down on the far right pole, not moving, her face in her hands, her elbows on her knees. _"That's the very pole I was tied to."_

Naruto ran over to her, approaching her slowly. She still did not make any indication that she noticed him, but he could see her shivering as she sat there, her pink hair all over the place.

"I knew I'd find you here," Naruto said quietly, walking over to Sakura. He walked over to the second pole, and sat down beside her, waiting.

"Yeah, I figured you'd find me eventually," she finally said quietly, her voice shivering. She lifted her head, and her green eyes met Naruto's blue eyes. Her faced was stained with tears, and the area around her eyes was raw and red, making a fine contrast to the rest of her face, which was distinctly blue. Her lips were blue, and shivering.

"You must be freezing. Let's get out of here," Naruto said simply. Sakura nodded slowly, and allowed Naruto to help her to her feet. She took her first few steps shakily, before getting into a steady walking rhythm.

The two of them walked back to Naruto's house, which was closer, in complete silence. Neither of them said a word. The only communication made, was when Naruto reached out to hold Sakura's hand. She did not protest.

When they got back to Naruto's flat, Sakura lay down on the couch, shivering worse then ever. Naruto quickly got her the thickest blanket he had, and began to boil some tea. Still, neither of them spoke.

Sakura was sitting up in the sofa, staring out of the window when Naruto came back with to steaming cups of tea. He gave one of them to Sakura, who accepted it, saying a small: "Arigatou…" He sat down beside her, and drank from his own cup.

"You can sleep here tonight, if you want," Naruto said finally. Sakura turned around, and looked at him.

"Thank you…" she muttered, avoiding his eyes slightly. She picked up her mug again, and drank.

"Are you going to be OK?" Naruto asked carefully. She gazed back at him, meeting his warm blue eyes this time. They were full of grief, but concern as well. He was worried about her.

"I know you still loved him," Naruto said slowly. "But you just have to remember, you're not alone."

Sakura nodded, not saying anything…

_Why is it always like this? Why does Naruto always have to worry about me? I promised I would never make him worry about me again, but now… _

She suddenly leaned foreword, and embraced Naruto, hugging him tightly, scared to let go. He held her, gently patting her back, comforting her best he could.

Then, to Naruto's surprise, Sakura pulled back slightly, and kissed him on the cheek. He gazed at her, surprised.

"Thank you so much, Naruto," she whispered, smiling. She hugged him again, tears streaming down her face again.

Even in the midst of her misery, Sakura found something to be happy about. She could always rely on Naruto. He would never let her down, and always protect her. The tears continued to trickle down her face.

Naruto deserved better then what he had been getting from her. Cold rejection, and punches, mostly. All this time, she had just been obsessed with Sasuke, although she still could not understand why. Sasuke had never been there for her. Naruto had.

She did not want to let go of him, and in the end, she finally fell asleep in his arms, tired out from all of the crying.


End file.
